State seeks Waikiki
vending bidsThe current beach vendor had
asked for an exclusive contract
The state will seek sealed bids from vendors who want to provide surf lessons and other beach services at Duke Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki.
The Board of Land & Natural Resources decided yesterday to solicit bids for a five-year "beach boy" contract, with options to renew annually for up to 15 years.
The decision was a blow to C&K Beach Services, which has held a monthly revocable permit from the state since 1977 for the beach adjacent to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The company pays $1,170 a month to the state.
Clyde Aikau, C&K president, argued that his company should keep exclusive rights to provide beach services because he and co-owner Kim Higa will do a better job of perpetuating the traditional beach boy way of serving both tourists and locals with aloha.
He told the board that he and Higa have formed a nonprofit, the Hawaiian Beach Boy Preservation Foundation, to provide apprenticeships to young people who want to learn the beach boy way.
C&K was seeking a 20-year business agreement with the state.
State Land Division Administrator Deedee Mamiya said her staff had been unable to find any quantifiable definition of a beach boy or way to judge authenticity.
Several of the beach service operators at yesterday's meeting disparaged other beach boy stands, questioning honesty, fairness and payment of concession fees or taxes.
The finger-pointing prompted board members Kathryn Inouye, of Oahu, and Lynn McCrory, of Kauai, to question whether the companies were exhibiting the aloha that they claim beach boys represent.
Mamiya also noted that many individual beach boys move from stand to stand, like independent contractors.
"I am not the same," Aikau said. "In personality, character and qualifications, it's like apples and oranges, day and night."
Aikau said his beach boys have provided "free lifeguard service at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for the last 20 years, at no cost to the city or state," and have saved lives.
Other beach boy operators or former operators at the meeting who said they would seek the Duke Kahanamoku Beach concession included Palekaiko Beach Boys, Captain Clay Goheir, Fletcher Miranda and Star Beach Boys.
All said they were pleased with the decision to open the concession, which they said is a lucrative business.
C&K will continue to operate its concession until the bidding process is completed.